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All but one as Ibom Air pulls out of planned strike by Nigerian airline operators

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Following the announcement by major airline operators in Nigeria that they would embark on strike from tomorrow, Monday, 9 May, Akwa Ibom state owned Ibom Air on Saturday said it will no longer take part in the industry plan to stop flights.

Ibom Air claimed the planned strike would affect revenues needed to service obligations to financiers and suppliers.

Major Airline operators on Friday threatened to shut down operations from Monday. The Airlines, which include Air Peace, Ibom Air (now pulling out), Max Air, Arik Air, United Nigeria Airlines Aero Contractors, Azman Air, Overland Airways, and Dana Air said they could no longer operate under current price regime with the continued rise in cost of jet fuel.

Ibom Air, which is one of the smaller members of the nine airline association, is the first to say it will not participate in grounding flights.

The airline, which is backed by Akwa Ibom state, said high jet fuel posed a threat but stopping operations would exacerbate the situation due to obligations and that customers have paid in advance for flights.

Nigeria’s aviation ministry said it was concerned about the difficulties and the spiraling air fares due to jet fuel cost but appealed to the airlines to consider the effects of a shutdown on travellers at home and abroad.

Although Nigeria is one of the largest oil producers in the world, it does not refine its crude locally. Thus, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has affected the availability of refined crude for oil demand in the country. In the last two months, there has been scarcity and a hike in the price of other crude products like diesel, and petrol in Nigeria.

 

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Nigeria wants $2.25 billion World Bank loan

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Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Wale Edun, has revealed that the country is seeking up to $2.25 billion in World Bank loans and expects the bank’s board to approve the request in June.

The move was announced in a statement following the International Monetary Fund/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, D.C as the country also aims to issue diaspora bonds later this year to attract much-need foreign exchange into the country.

The World Bank loans would include $1.5 billion for development policy and $750 million for program-for-results, the statement said. It also said that the bank would meet in June to decide whether to approve the plan in its entirety.

The multilateral body is yet to comment on the revelation at press time.

Nigeria one of Africa’s biggest oil producers has struggled lately mainly over industrial-scale crude oil theft, and troubles getting foreign currency, which caused its naira currency to drop to all-time lows against the U.S. dollar. It has since recovered, though.

Already, the country is on record levels of debt, high unemployment, and large amounts of money from the central bank. However, Edun has insisted that the government had cut the money it borrowed from the central bank in half.

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Ghana’s finance minister anticipates debt restructuring MoU with lenders

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Ghana’s Finance Minister has announced that the country’s two main creditors will send him a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a restructuring deal in May, signifying a major progress in the country’s debt reform.

Once the MoU is signed, it will make public the deal that was made in January to restructure $5.4 billion in loans with its official creditors, such as China and France.

The restructuring is a big step toward Ghana getting rid of its debt as it works to get out of the worst economic crisis in a generation. It should also allow the country to get more money from its $3 billion IMF program.

Mohammed Amin Adam said he was sure the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank would work together at the Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. In June, the Monetary Fund’s executive board will agree to review its staff-level deal.

From 2023 to 2028, Ghana’s national debt to gross domestic product level was supposed to go down by 15%. This guess says that the number will have gone down every year for six years, ending at 69.96% in 2028.

Ghana didn’t pay back most of its foreign loans in December 2022 because it became too expensive to do so. But now it needs to work out a deal with private holders of about $13 billion in foreign bonds. It has also changed most of its domestic debt.

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